Well, its turncoat spies, anyway. If it was murdering random members of the population like a certain religion then I could see why we'd be upset. If there is all this convincing evidence, why not at least attempt to tell us about it? Even the liar-in-chief had a dossier. To be honest, it all seems a bit clumsy for the Russians. And I find the response, even if the allegations are true, highly hypocritical.
It doesn't appear to be an April Fool story but who can tell..also doesn't mention ergot.
Mostly from RT - perhaps a news source not to be trusted.If you search "skripal case" on YouTube you only see (pro) Russian propaganda. I'm shocked!
See for yourself:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=skripal case
Indeed. But they manage to flood the internet with their story. That's good propaganda skillsMostly from RT - perhaps a news source not to be trusted.
I was joking about the ergot. Sorry !
OK - I see ...
Another point would be that if the porridge were processed / pre-packaged one would reasonably expect there'd been additional recent ergot poisonings back in Russia.
I think there is some lazy translation going on here - by "porridge" they almost certainly mean kasha - which is a word applied to a variety of preparations based around grains, oatmeal being just one of many. The Mail article does mention buckwheat - this can be found in the UK, but it does take some searching for (I'm partial to it myself, and only really remember finding it in some health-food stores). So, from that point of view, it's perhaps more understandable that they might ask an acquaintance to bring some back.Kinda odd that the daughter would ask a friend to bring over foodstuffs that are readily obtainable over here.
And the West are so different? How many Middle Eastern countries have we bombed?You are making the mistake of assuming that Russian operations are subtle. They aren't. Brute force is often useful to send a message and promote fear, and the Russians are all too aware of that.
All of them.And the West are so different? How many Middle Eastern countries have we bombed?
And the West are so different? How many Middle Eastern countries have we bombed?
Where did you hear this?Hmm...Porton Down are unable to state that this particular brand of nerve agent came from Russia. And yet the government said that it was Russian "beyond doubt".
Which experts should we trust?
Where did you hear this?
And the West are so different? How many Middle Eastern countries have we bombed?
Thanks Cochise, that sheds some light. Here is what the Porton Down boss is quoted as saying.https://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/sa...can-t-verify-nerve-agent-is-russian-1-4718043
Other references are available
Asked about his scientists’ findings, Mr Aitkenhead told Sky: “We in terms of our role were able to identify it as Novichok, to identify it was a military-grade nerve agent. “We have not verified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific information to the Government, who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions that they have come to.” The location of manufacture “can be established through a number of different input sources which the Government has access to”, he said, adding: “From our perspective, scientific evidence is only one of those sources, and it requires a number of other things to verify that. “It’s a military grade nerve agent which requires extremely sophisticated methods in order to create - something that’s probably only within the capabilities of a state actor.”
Are you sure? He was rather famous for it.After that, the Geneva convention banned gas weapons. That was a ban that even Hitler didn't break.
The scientists?
Novichok sounds like a Russian chocolate bar.
Hmm...Porton Down are unable to state that this particular brand of nerve agent came from Russia. And yet the government said that it was Russian "beyond doubt".
Which experts should we trust?
Thanks Cochise, that sheds some light. Here is what the Porton Down boss is quoted as saying.
With respect, you're putting a rather bizarre spin on the Porton Down statement.
Their remit always was to identify the nerve agent itself - which they did as the Soviet product Novichok.
Porton Down was never tasked with identifying the perpetrator of the attack, hence your "Hmm..." (presumably with conspiratorial overtones) is misplaced.
Why would he be nuts to? What's happened as a consequence? And who else has a motive to kill with a russian product a russian double agent living in britain? And imagining someone other than russia having such a motive, is this mysterious other someone also behind Litvinenko and polonium? The poisoning of the former Ukriainian presisdent several years ago? The apparent large numbers of suspicious deaths of anti-putin oligarchs and exiles? The Welsh perhaps. Or Putin's ex wife trying to show him up.Putin would be nuts to stage such an attack just before the World Cup.
Still no smoking gun - do we really want to risk WW3 based on supposition?
Or...Putin would be nuts to stage such an attack just before the World Cup.
Or...
That's exactly why he would do it, because "nuts to do it before World Cup" give deniability, eg 'why would I do that, we have the World Cup coming up?'. Other ex-spies still get the message.
Burgess of course based a lot of his nadsat slang on Russian words, including nadsat - the Russian suffix for -teen. I'm still bitter all these years later that my English teacher at school would not accept the obvious derivation of horrorshow from хорошо...I think it sounds like a synthetic chocolate substitute from A Clockwork Orange.